Honda Motor has invested an undisclosed amount into GrabTaxi Holdings Pte Ltd. The deal is designed to help Grab compete with Uber in Southeast Asia; although the report from the Wall Street Journal seems to indicate that this will largely focus on efforts in Indonesia.
A spokeswoman for Honda told the WSJ that the company is looking for ways to use its motorcycles in more ways than just direct sales. It seems that Honda plans to capitalise on the fact that ride-sharing services will try to replace their vehicles more often. Of course, this is all reliant on GrabBike; which currently only operates in Indonesia.
Honda’s investment in Grab also mirrors the Toyota’s investment in Uber and General Motors Investment in Lyft. Uber has also renewed expansion efforts in Asia Pacific after being unceremoniously ejected from China.
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Both GrabBike and Uber are also facing stiff competition in Indonesia from Gojek, a ride sharing service with a focus on motorcycles.
[Source: The Wall Street Journal]
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